1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a protective strip for a motor car or other road vehicle. Such a strip, at least when applied to the front or rear of a road vehicle, is commonly called a bumper. The invention also relates to a motor car or other road vehicle equipped with such a protective strip, as well as to the crush elements for such a strip herein proposed.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The requirements set for modern motor cars increasingly include the provision of a protective strip which is able to absorb slight shocks without any severe or permanent resultant damage, and/or without fear of severe injuries to those within the motor car. In the first instance the front and rear bumpers of a motor car may come to mind in this regard, but it is possible to use the protective strip proposed according to the present invention around the entire circumference of the motor car.
When a motor car is mentioned in this description, it is always to be understood that the invention is applicable to say a road vehicle which may be subject to shocks and impacts and which is suitable to be equipped with a protective strip.
One form of known protective strip or bumper has a metal backing member adapted to be secured to the vehicle frame, and a shock-absorbing structure mounted on the metal backing member, so as to face outwardly therefrom. This shock-absorbing structure is at least partly formed of plastics material. It has been proposed to improve the shock-absorbing capacity of such a protective strip by suitable choice of the shape and the material of the plastics material structure. This may lead to particularly bulky and extremely expensive synthetic structures. It has also been proposed to make a shock-absorbing connection between the backing member and the frame of the motor car, for which purpose it is necessary to build expensive energy-destroying elements into this connection which also causes problems in practice.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,841 illustrates a bumper which is resilient and in which a plastics shell conceals one or more energy absorbing elements mounted on a backing member. The energy absorbing elements are made of elastomeric material of a relatively high durometer, and are apparently resilient in action.
French patent application No. 75 07026 (publication No. 2 263 132) shows a bumper having a solid body of elastomer or elastic foam projecting from a backing member and containing, embedded in it, a rigid profile in the form of for instance a tube or honeycomb. Energy is absorbed, when the bumper is compressed, by compression of an elastomeric element located between the profile and the backing member. This construction is relatively complex.